Bottle stopper and flask connecter



r to embrace the neck of the bottle.

Patented Mar. 28, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANCIS K. POTTENGER, JR, 0]? MONROVIA, AND EDWIN G. HOUSE, 0]" LOS ANGELES,

CALIFORNIA BOTTLE STOIPER AND FLABK CONNECTER Application filed August 29, 1931. Serial No, 560,072.

Our invention relates to closures, with special reference to rubber stoppers for bottles, and is directed particularl to a construction that may be incorporated in a bottle stopper as such, or in a flask connecter of a type commonly employed in chemical laboratories and in medicalpractice.

The primary object of our invention is to provide a device combining exceptional structural provisions for sterilization with maximum ein'ciency as a mechanical seal.

In chemical work, a stopper or flask connecter is required from which the last trace of any chemical may be readily removed. Any inaccessible surface ofl'ers serious diflioulties. In medical practice, the necessity for absolute sterilization of such apparatus as that required for giving hypodermoclysis and intravenous therapy, magnifies the importance of providing fixtures free from pocket-s, recesses, or concealed surfaces for the accumulative trapping of material.

. Broadly described, our invention comprises a rubber plug adapted to be inserted in the mouth of a bottle or flask, the plug having an integral rubber skirt that rolls outward The skirt has an annular flange which engages the rim flange or bead of the bottle. Preferably, the skirt is constructed to embrace the bottle neck with a suction or vacuum grip.

Further features and advantages of our invention are incorporated in the detailed description which follows. This description is to be considered with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the detached tube connecter;

Fig. 2 is a central, vertical, transverse section of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the flask connecter assembled to a flask;

Fig. 4 is a central, transverse, vertical section of the connecter in the attached position shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of a modified form of flask connecter;

Fig. 6 is a similar view, showing a flask connecter having a vent tube projected inside the flask;

Fig. 7 is a central, vertical, transverse section of our invention constructed as a bottle stopper; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary similar view of our invention, showing a modification of the skirt construction.

Figs. 1 to 4 show our preferred form of flask connecter. The connecter comprises a rubber plug 20, and a rubber skirt 21 integral with and extending longitudinally from the plug. The plug itself may be slightly tapered to facilitate insertion in the mouth of a flask 22, and preferably has a recess 23 hollowed out of its inner end. By virtue of the hollowed inner end, any pressure confined within bottle 22 tends to press the plug into frictional engagement with the interior of the flanged neck 24, as indicated by the arrows in Fig.4.

In this specific flange connecter, the plug has two longitudinal passages 25 and 26 which communicate respectively with two short external conduits 27 and 28. Preferably, the conduits are of rubber molded integral with the plug, and are of suitable length for conveniently coupling tubing to convey fluid to and from flask 22.

Skirt 21 is of sufiicient length to be rolled up over the rim flange 29 of the flask to a position embracing neck 24, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The diameter of the skirt relative to the plug for a given type of flask will depend upon the tension with which it is desired to have the skirt embrace the flask, and also the characteristics of the rubber composition used.

Skirt 21 is provided with two spaced annular flanges 30 and 31 which define a channel 32 that is outwardly disposed on the detached stopper shown in Fig. 2, and inwardly disposed on the attached stopper shown in Fig. 4. Inner flange 30 engages the shoulder formed by rim flange 29, when the connecter is assembled to flask 22, and a slight pressure against the vertical wall 33 of the channel will cause the skirt to embrace the neck of the flask with a suction grip.

Fig. 5 shows a flask connecter similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the corresponding parts being indicated by corresponding num- 10 bers, but it differs in that a thickened edge or flange 34 is substituted for the two channeldcfiniiTg flanges of the first described form. In the absence of a vacuum grip, this modification depends upon a friction grip and the engagement of edge 34 with the shoulder formed by rim flange 29.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flask connecter also sunllar to the first form, shown in Figs. 1 to 4, corresponding parts being given corresponding numbers, but it differs in the addition of a vent tube 35, which is integralwitli plug20 and is projected into flask 22 continuous w1t h passage 26. This form of flask connecter is used where it is desired to supply liquid from the flask through'passage 25, in which case conduit 35, passage 26 and lower conduit 28 provide communication between the atmos phere and the space in the inverted flask above the liquid level. It will be noted that the plug serves as a substantial base for supporting inwardly extending conduit 35 with relative rigidity.

The bottle stopper shown in Fig. 7 comprises a solid plug 36 having a. skirt identical with the first form shown in Figs. 1 to 4. Corresponding parts aregiven corresponding numbers.

In Fig. 8, the plug 37 which may be either solid for a stopper or apertured for a flask connecter, is provided with a skirt 38 having a modified form of suction channel 39. In comparison with the first form, the two channel-defining flanges 40. and 41 are thinner, wider, and, particularly the upper one, more diver-gently disposed. In such a construction, it will be noted that atmospheric pressure tends to press flanges 40 and 41 laterally against the bottle neck 24, thereby providing for increased frictional engagement with the bottle.

The flask connecter or stopper is assembled to the flask by simply seating the plug in the mouth of the flask and rolling the skirt over the flask rim. The insertion of the plug is facilitated both by the tapering configuration of the plug and by the increased resiliency of the inner end of the plug provided by recess 23.

Although our device is quickly assembled toa flask, when once attached it offers exceptional resistance to displacement by pressure from within the flask. In the first place, such internal pressure acting in recess 23 tends to expand the plug against the inner peripheral wall of neck 24, thus increasing the frictional engagement of the plug itself. In the second place, the partial vacuum in the channel reenforees the inherent tendency of the channel-defining flanges to grip the flask neck; especially in this true in the case of the construction shown in Fig. 8. A third factor is the engagement of the lower flange of the channel with the shoulder formed by the rim of the flask. Stress caused by any tendency of the plug to slide outwand is converted by virtue of the skirt bendingllaround rim flange 29 into a substantially radially outward pull on the channel. This factis important because the vacuum grip ofl'ersxits greatest resistance to those forces acting in a'plane perpendicular to the axis of the bottle neck. It is also noteworthy that the periphery of the plug is of sufiicient extent longitudinally to insure strictly axial movement in yielding to pressure from within the flask. In otherwords, the plug is prevented from tilting laterally, and since it can move only straight outward longitudinally, stress conveyed to the skirt is evenly distributed around the periphery of the channel.

To remove our device, the outside flange of the channel is lifted outward to release the vacuum and the skirt is then rolled downward to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Further advantages of our invention may be appreciated by a comparison with the cup-shaped type of rubber closure adapted to embrace the neck of a bottle, for example, a nursing nipple, or the construction dis-. closed in the applicant Pottengers application, serially numbered 500,827, filed Decemher 8th, 1930. and entitled Tube connecter construction.

If a cup-shaped connecter, or stopper, is designed for an exceptionally tight fit, attaching it to a flask may be entirely too. difficult. In our instant invention, however, the plug securely seated in the mouth of the flask serves as an anchor to resist any lateral forces incidental to the assembly operation, and the rolling action of moving the skirt over the rim of the flask so facilitates the operation that a t ght fitting closure may be easily handled. The difference is especially noticeable in the case of the channel construction shown in Fig. 8. It is diflicult to slip such a channel over the rim of a flask without folding the outer flange under against the neck of the flask, but no such difficulty is encountered when the channel is part of a skirt adapted to be rolled over the rim.

Our instant invention is more sanitary than the usual cup-shaped construction. To be thoroughly cleansed and sterilized between operations, a cup-shaped device should be turned inside out to expose all the surfaces that contact the fluid in the flask, especially to expose crevices and flanges that may accumulate material. The precaution of turning a cup-shaped device ins de out may be overlooked in the routine of laboratory or hospital work, but all such surfaces, crevices, and flanges in our device are automatically turned outwardand exposed by the very act of removing it from a flask. A study of Fig. 2 reveals that all the fluid-contacting surfaces are exterior surfaces, when the device is detached, except the straight, smooth and easily cleaned fluid passages.

It is to be further noted that by designing the plug to seat tightly, the fluid-contacting surface may be restricted to the inner end of the plug, a relatively small area in comparison with the fluid-contacting area of a cup-shaped device, and oflering corre spondingly lesser opportunity for unsterile conditions.

Our invention may be radically changed in form and construction without departing from the principles involved, and we reserve the right to all such changes and mod1fications as properly come within the scope of our appended claims.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. The combination with a bottle of: a rubber plug inserted in the mouth of the bottle; a rubber skirt integral with the plug and rolled over the rim of the bottle; and two spaced, divergent, annular flanges integral with the skirt embracing the bottle neck, the two flanges forming with the skirt and bottle neck a vacuum-sustaining annular space.

2. The combination with a bottle of: a rubber plug inserted in the mouth of the bottle; a rubber skirt integral with the plug and rolled over the 'rim of the bottle; and two spaced, divergent, and relatively thin annular flanges integral with the skirt embm ing the bottle neck, the two flanges forming with the skirt and bottle neck a vacuum-sustaining annular space.

3. The combination with a bottle having a rim flange, of: a rubber plu inserted in the mouth of the bottle; a rub er skirt in-' tegral with the plug and extending around said rim flange; an annular flange integral with the skirt, said flange embracing the bottle neck and engaging said rim flange;v and a second, spaced, annular flange integral with the skirt and embracing the bottle neck, said flanges being diver cut and relatively thin, said skirt; rubber anges and the bottle neck defining a vacuum-sustaining annular space. y

4. The combination with a flask having an outward extending rim flange, of a flask connecter comprising: a rubber plug inserted in the mouth of the flask, said plug having two or more longitudinal passages therethrough two or more corresponding conduits continuous with said passages; a rubber skirt integral with the plug and rolled around said rim flange; an annular rubber flange integral with said skirt, said flange engaging said rim flange and embracing the neck of the flask; and a second, spaced, annular rubber flange integral with said skirt and embracing the neck of the flask, said skirt and rubber flanges forming an annular channel having diverging, side walls, said channel embracing the neck of the flask with a vacuum grip.

5. The combination with a bottle having an outwardly extending rim flange, of: a rubber plug inserted in the mouth of the bottle; a rubber skirt integral with the plu and rolled over the rim of the bottle; an two spaced, divergent, annular flanges integral with the skirt embracing the bottle neck, the two flanges forming with the skirt and bottle neck a vacuum-sustaining annular space, and one of said flanges engaging said rim flange of the bottle.

6. The combination with a bottle having an outwardly extending rim flange, of: a rubber plug inserted in the mouth of the bottle; a rubber skirt integral with the plug and rolled over the rim of the bottle; and two spaced, divergent, relatively thin, annular flanges integral with the skirt embracing.

the bottle neck, the two flanges forming with the skirt and bottle neck a vacuum-sustaining annular space, and one of said flanges en aging said rim flange of the bottle. n witness that we claim the foregoing, we have hereunto subscribed our names th1s 19th day of Au ust, 1931.

FRANCI M. POTTENGER, JR. EDWIN G. HOUSE. 

